Sfax War Cemetery, Tunisia

Sfax War Cemetery, Tunisia.

My daughter Lynne and I visited my father's grave at Sfax War Cemetery on August 13th, 2010. He was killed at Tebaga Gap on the 26th of March, 1943. He was in the 24th Battalion and there were 50 from his Battalion killed that day.

I first visited Sfax Cemetery with my mother in 1964. Back then the headstones were all made of Portland Stone. They have all been replaced with marble and look really good. The cemetery is beautifully kept.

We photographed the graves of our soldiers buried here. The archivist at the Waiouru Army Museum, Dolores Ho, asked me to place a flax cross and a poppy on each grave and take a photo of them. She sent me the crosses, which she makes, and I got the poppies from the Cambridge RSA. 

There are 22 members of the 28 Māori Battalion buried here. 18 of the 28 Māori Battalion are buried in Block X (10) Row F. The 4 who are not are Jack Davis (Row B), Wi Kingi (Row C), and William Fox and Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa Ngarimu are buried in Row E.

In total there are 177 New Zealanders buried at Sfax War Cemetery and many were killed at Tebaga Gap. 82 New Zealanders were killed on the 26th of March. 172 soldiers are named and 5 are "Known Unto God".  

Reference:
Permission of Bill Brocklebank required for any reuse of this image.

Comments (3)

Po Marie Bill. Aue te miharo o ohou haerenga ki Sfax. Mahau nei e emera ki a koe e pa ana ki a El Tebaga. Kia Kaha

I look forward to hearing from you about Tebaga Gap. My daughter, Lynne, and I tried to find it when we were there in August but were unable to do so. We only had one day in Gabes so it was all rather hurried. We were also handicapped because we had no maps. I just had a copy of the map from the 24th Battalion history. Any information about how to get there would be most appreciated. Lynne plans to return and find it. I saw your photo of Hill 209 and have read about it.

Kia Ora Bill,I have put some more pics up of Pt 209 on my page. Its not an easy find. Monty Soutar is taking a party across on a pilgrimage next year. Let me know if I can help you.Manuia, Mokowaa